Day 2 of the MarketingSherpa Email Summit here in beautiful Miami brought real-live experiences from an impressive range of companies. Bottom line? Better know your customers and what they like and need instead of blasting them with generic info and offers. The secret word is relevance.
First up was Annette Promes, director of email marketing for Expedia. She wanted to know which offer–points towards free travel, a cash discount code, or a general message promising savings–did a better job of increasing response to hotel offers from customers who had signed up for a ThankYou® Rewards Network membership.
The points treatment lifted click-through by 82% and transactions a whopping 347% while the code/coupon, while also doing well, increased clicks by 24% and transactions by “only” 106%.
Customers had signed up for the points program, and it was points they desired. Promes warned against training customers not to do business with you unless they get a coupon.
Kimberley Talbot, senior group manager of worldwide relationship marketing for Adobe also proved relevance is the key with her case study of the launch of the Creative Suite 3 product.
Talbot segmented the campaign to meet the needs of three customer segments in general: designers, photographers, and educators. The creatives got an email with one stunning, original graphic on a white background and a minimum of copy. Photographers got more tech specs to check out. Educators were told how the software could prepare students for future success.
Then Talbot used a propensity model to ID which customers were early, mid, and late adopters and crafted her email Call-To-Action accordingly. She focused additional direct marketing spend on the early adopters. Her results?
A mind-blowing email campaign ROI of 29,000% in North America and 5,000% worldwide. A 41% increase in overall order rate and a 72% increase in direct orders vs. a “no contact” control.
“Customers proved they know what they need,” said Talbot. “They purchased what we predicted they would…but they were exposed to more products.”
The take-away?
– Tailor use of media to the audience’s preference.
– Version for segments whose needs have a material impact on response.
– Prioritize investment against those segments for whom the messaging is most relevant.
Want to know more about the future of customer engagement according to Adobe? Go to www.adobe.com/engagement/
More later…
